Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Yesterday Kinky Melon travelled to the gritty & urban setting of the Old Granada Studios in Manchester, the former home of Coronation Street, the UK's longest running soap.

We took advantage of the glorious weather by dragging our wares outside into the sunshine.

Jon's original English-made cherry red Docs were from last week's car boot sale. The paisley cravat, vintage Austin Reed waistcoat and red skinnies all came from charity shops and his Jimi Hendrix tee from a flea market in Goa.

I wore a 1960s psychedelic culotte dress from Janne's Vintage, topped with a pile of Indian tribal jewellery, 1970s Ted Lapidus sunglasses (from a chazza) and some original red leather wedges from Clare.

Its only the second Vintage Village @ the Old Granada Studios, run by the fab duo behind the legendary Stockport market. Yesterday's Manchester Parade and subsequent road closures deterred a few so it wasn't quite as well attended as last time.

....and look what they missed!

Check out just a fraction of the amazing TRUE and TOTALLY AUTHENTIC vintage loveliness on offer.

Not a cupcake, fake Fifties frock, Scrabble ring or candle in a vintage china teacup in sight.

Our vintage Liberty of London pith helmet remains in stock, ready to attend another fair.

I reckon Jon should keep it, its a good look.

The smiley beer seller was a welcome neighbour, tempting us with some wonderfully hoppy IPA.

As a child I was an avid Coronation Street viewer, being allowed to stay up until 8pm on a Monday and Wednesday was a special treat. I haven't watched it for at least 30 years so the set wasn't familiar to me.

It was fun using the seedy nightclub loos.

But unfamiliar or not I loved the location, and despite a slow start, sales turned out to be very healthy in the end. The good folk of Manchester certainly love their vintage clobber. We'll be back!

Vintage Village at the Old Granada Studios is from 11 - 5 on the fourth Sunday of each month - get yourself there, eat street food, drink ale and treat yourself some of the best hand-picked (and very reasonably priced) vintage in the land.

Of course Manchester ain't just about vintage. Its got a bit of a reputation for being home to some of the greatest bands in the world, too (but I am a little biased!)

We spotted this iconic landmark on the way (by strange coincidence, situated on the corner of another Coronation Street) and pulled to a screeching halt, abandoning the van and taking a couple of cheesy fan photos, much to the bemusement of a passing resident.

I've owned this promo poster since 1986. My brother laid claim to it after I left home and its hung in his old bedroom over the road ever since. I'm tempted to incorporate into our décor here but how would Morrissey feel about being included on the Wall of Misery?

Vintage 1970s maxi - £5 from Vintage Village @ the Old Granada Studios (yes, £5! Look what you missed out on!)

I'd love to thank you all personally for the overwhelmingly kind texts, comments, emails and Facebook messages of support after my last post. I'm afraid my computer (purchased from discount supermarket chain, Aldi, sometime in the last century) is officially bollocksed broken. I've borrowed Jon's knackered laptop to post this and its taken effin' hours.

I love you all!

PS: We're off to Glastonbury tomorrow and, as you'd expect, I've a bag rammed with sequins, psychedelia, fake fur, feathers, fringing and a bastard massive amount of jewellery. Rest assured my "vintage persona" will remain intact regardless of living under canvas for a week and not washing. Photos will follow somehow.

Unlike a typical red carpet starlet I did my own hair, nails and make up and wore a frock that was already in my wardrobe - a psychedelic Californian-made maxi courtesy of dearest Jean from Dross Into Gold. The tan was from the back garden.

Liz & me (Liz's maxi is from Kinky Melon and her bag is one of her Izzybird creations).

So did I win? No! Despite your incredible support and leading the voting throughout the competition, the final decision was down to the judges and with criteria which included points for "representing vintage brands throughout their work" and "maintaining their public persona through social media" I didn't stand a cat in hell's chance.

Vintage brands? Does that mean Repro? Over my dead body! Public persona? I'm the same person 24 hours a day. I don't even know how to use my phone for Twittering.

I feel bad for letting you all down (and especially Curtise) but stuff it - I've still got a personality, just not one that conforms to the mainstream "vintage" one.

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

What do you get if you take a 1960s curtain, some left over pompom braid and a particularly dull 0-0 football game?

Chuck in a generous helping of Lidl's white rum and you could end up with one of these - a pompom-tastic cover-up.

Not that my Kate Moss bumble bee hot pants need to be covered up. They've been a regular feature on my blog for almost as long as I've been writing it - not bad for something that cost me a quid from a car boot sale five years ago.

A week today we'll (hopefully) be pitched up at Glastonbury making a dent in the cider mountain. Yes, I did say pitched up - we're camping! Getting our tickets in the resale meant that the campervan pitches were all sold out. How good would it be if this bit of kit was our home for the week? Sadly it's not, instead it'll be Kinky's new selling space for the remainder of the festival season. Luckily a friend is loaning us his tent. I've just got to work out how to condense my Glasto wardrobe into a bag small enough.

Did I mention eternal youth? I had several comments recently remarking that I'm getting younger (flatterers!) My secret is snake venom! I spotted this eye cream in Body Care a while ago and, once I'd established it was cruelty (and reptile) free, gave it a whirl. It was so good that I went straight back to buy the serum, which is equally amazing (which I wear under my trusty Superdrug Vitamin E Radiance Moisture Cream). The eye cream is £1.99 and the serum is £3.49 and yes, I bought it with my own money. You won't find any dodgy product placement here.

Other than my Barry M lippy I'm bare-faced today. I'm still not sure what I'm going to wear to the National Vintage Awards tomorrow night (I've whittled it down to two options) but doing my eyes after a couple of days of wearing nothing will make my face feel dressed up if nothing else!

Thanks for voting and for all your support. I'll be back at the end of the week to share the final result.

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I'm Vix, a jumble sale-ing, car-booting, skip-diving, charity shopping, hedonistic hippy chick in love with life, India and vintage clothes.
In my world getting dressed is always an adventure, never a chore. My style is Woodstock refugee meets Rolling Stones groupie with a bit of vintage Bollywood thrown in. I don't follow fashion and if I look ridiculous so what? Not being noticed and blending in with the crowd is my idea of hell.
A day without dressing up is a day wasted.